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Wicked Witch of the West
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) The Wicked Witch of the West. (1939) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) Wicked Witch of the West (1939) The Wicked Witch of the West (or Witch of the West, or Wicked Witch for short) is a fictional character invented by L. Frank Baum, author and creator of the Oz Legacy. Her first and only appearance is in Baum's first Oz book titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900. She is introduced in the twelfth chapter of the novel titled, The search of the Wicked Witch, where she serves strictly as the most significant antagonist in the plot of the story. In the novel, Baum never named his Wicked Witch and she is only known by her title of position. Despite being such an iconic character, in Baum's subsequent Oz books, it is the infamous Nome King from a neighboring kingdom, who is the principal villain throughout the sequel stories. The Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book, by being liquefied by the stories' child protagonist and heroine from Kansas named Dorothy Gale. The Wicked Witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 Hollywood musical movie loosely based on Baum's book, The Wizard of Oz, where she was portrayed by late actress Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton's iconic characterization introduced green boogeyman skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations of Oz, including Gregory Maguire's highly praised revisionist Oz novel titled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. In Maguire's story the Witch's name is "Elphaba" who is green due to her mother consuming "Green Miracle Elixir" while she was pregnant with her. In the 2013 Oz film by Walt Disney pictures Oz the Great and Powerful, the pre-Wicked Witch of the West is a young and naive "Good Witch" named Theodora, who tragically turns green from a green posion apple that causes her heart to shed itself from all its goodness. In the Spring 2014 story arc of the popular television series Once Upon a Time, the Wicked Witch is named "Zelena", who turns green due to her jealousy over a newly arrived Dorothy who became a threat to the prophecy involving Oz's four Witches ("Green with Envy"). *Surprisingly, in the original book by Baum it never states that the Wicked Witch of the West has any type of peculiar skin condition or discoloration such as being green. However, it does state that the Wicked Witch is so old and wicked, that all the blood in her body dried up long ago. And like all versions she is highly allergic to H2O, which burns her skin like acid for reasons never explained or elaborated upon by Baum. One can only guess that due to the fact the Wicked Witch is so evil, a substance such as water, is simply too pure for her old, bloodless body. In later Oz books, the Wicked Witch Mombi is similarly disposed of in The Lost King of Oz, published in 1925, and the Wicked Witch Singra is clearly afraid of the same fate. The most likely historical explanation of Baum making water the Achilles Heel of these bad witches is the long held belief amongst major religions that water, which is used in holy rituals such as Baptisms can effectively purify the soul. Thus, destroying soulless witches. 'Wicked In the West' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of the western quadrant in the magical Land of Oz known as the Winkie Country. Interestingly, in Baum's original book of 1900, it is said the Wicked Witch lives in a yellow castle that is beautiful. Her home is described as consisting of long hallways carpeted with yellow velvet rugs, yellow silken draperies are placed at the castle windows and attractive yellow antiques and decor decorated nearly every room. It is indeed a luxurious setting instead of being the sinister fortress of medieval darkness shown in the 1939 movie. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) Originally, the Wicked Witch of the West was not related to the Wicked Witch of the East, but leagued together with her, as well as the Wicked Witch of the South and the Wicked Wich of the North known as simply "Mombi", to conquer the Land of Oz and divide it among themselves in four sections, long before the Wizard arrived, or even Glinda the Good surfaced. This is recounted in L. Frank Baum's fourth Oz book titled Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, published in 1908. Here, the Wicked Witch of the West shows no interest in the death of the Eastern Witch, and all she cares about is obtaining her magical Silver Shoes which will increase her own evil powers. She knows the shoes will help her in her task to successfully win her battles and ruthlessly dominate or enslave more of the Ozians who are forced to work for her and obey her every command. When the Winkies fail her, we are told she "beat them well with a strap." She also seems to have the Winkies actively working for her, though Baum never tells us what exactly this work is. Perhaps she was working on a way to defy the Wizard. Some Oz fans also have suggested the idea that she cast an anti-rain spell upon the Winkie Country to stop any water to fall near her territory, as the land of the Winkies was a desolate and dry place with a harsh climate during her reign. Baums' One Eyed Wicked Witch W. W. Denslow's illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz depict her as a gaudy old hag with three braided pigtails and an eye-patch. L. Frank Baum himself specified that she only had one eye, but that it "was as strong and powerful as a telescope", enabling her to see what was happening in her kingdom from her castle windows, no matter the distance. Other Oz illustrators, such as Paul Granger, placed her eye in the center of her forehead, as a cyclops. Usually, she is shown wearing an eye patch, however some illustrations incorrectly show her with two eyes instead of just one. Most of her power resides in the creatures she controls that do her dirty work. She has a pack of hungry, wild wolves, a swarm of black killer bees, a flock of black crows with sharp beaks to peak put the eyes of their targets and an army of male Winkies who are her slaves. In the book she also possesses the enchanted Golden Cap encrusted with real rubies and diamonds that run across its 24 Karat gold brim. This special cap compelles the creatures called Winged Monkeys of Oz to obey her on three occasions when she speaks the caps incantation. First, the witch commanded the creatures to help her enslave the Winkies and to seize control of the western section of Oz. Second, she made the winged monkeys drive the Wizard out of the Winkie Country, when he became the dominant ruler and even attempted to overthrow her but was unsuccessful. When Dorothy Gale and her three companions were sent by the Wizard to destroy her, in exchange for their wishes to be granted, the Wicked Witch saw them coming, gradually approaching her castle. Though they were a long distance off, she was very angry to see trespassers on her territory. So, in defense she immediately attacked the wandering group with her pack of wolves, crows, black bees, and her group of Winkie slaves. Each of these attempts were thwarted, but the protagonists are eventually subdued by the Wicked Witch's third and final permitted use of the Golden Cap. In the book Baum siad that she "destroyed" anyone who had ever attempted to challenge her other than the Wizard. Yet interestingly, in Baum's book the Wicked Witch could not directly kill Dorothy because the girl was protected by the Good Witch of the North's magical kiss upon her forehead. She therefore settles for enslaving Dorothy like the rest of the Winkies and tries to force the Cowardly Lion into submission by starving him, though Baum states that Dorothy sneaks him food in the evening during their captivity. Upon seeing the magical Silver Shoes on the girl's feet, the Wicked Witch of the West decided to formulate a plan to successfully steal them from Dorothy and thereby acquire even more power. The Wicked Witch of the West did not carry a broom in the novel, but rather an umbrella, which she uses on one occasion to strike Dorothy's dog Toto to install fear within the girl. The Umbrella makes a lot more sense than a broomstick because it was also probably used to protect and shield herself against any water attacks. Though no one knows that she is allergic to water. Her nature is a self entitled one and yet somewhat slightly cowardly. Despite her immense power, she avoids face-to-face contact with her enemies, and is frightened of Dorothy at first when she sees the girl is wearing the magic Silver Shoes. She is also afraid of the dark in Baum's original story for reasons never revealed. For that reason, the witch never tried to steal the shoes while Dorothy was sleeping in her chamber cell during the dark night. Despite her fear of water and the dark, the Wicked Witch of the West was one of the most powerful witches in all of Oz. In ensuing Oz books, her power is described as having been so great that even Glinda the Good Witch of the South secretly feared her at one point. When the witch finally does succeed in getting a hold of one of the shoes by making Dorothy trip over an invisible bar she had placed a few inches above the kitchen floor, she immediately puts the shoe on her own foot, telling Dorothy she now has half of the pairs power. Seeing she had been tricked, Dorothy demanded that the witch give her back the shoe. When the Wicked Witch refused to hand it over, the little girl dashed a bucket of water onto the Wicked Witch in a fit of rage, soaking her from head to foot. To Dorothy's surprise, the water caused the witch to dissolve away like "brown sugar". Afterwards, Dorothy retrieved her shoe back, as it was the only solid thing left of the woman who had become nothing more than a puddle upon the floor. *After the death of the Wicked Witch of the West, the Winkies were freed and asked the Tin Woodman to become the Emperor of Oz's western quadrant, to which he happily accepted the offer and swore he'd return to them after he made sure Dorothy and Toto found a way home again. After Dorothy's departure, the Tin Woodman kept his promise and as a gift, the Winkies built him a spacious tin castle to live in, as the Winkies are said to be the most crafted tin-smiths in the world. Death of the Wicked Witch of the West It is stated in Baum's book that the Wicked Witch of the West was so very old and Wicked that all the blood in her body dried up long before The Wonderful Wizard of Oz takes place. And when she finally comes into contact with water, it burns her skin like acid and she dissolves into a puddle on the floor. Baum described it as "melting away like brown sugar." In the beginning of the story when Dorothy's farmhouse fell on the Wicked Witch of the East, her body soon caved in and crumbled to dust under the fallen establishment. (The feet of the dead Wicked Witch had disappeared entirely and nothing was left but the Silver Shoes.) The Good Witch of the North explains that "She was so old that she dried up quickly in the sun." So whatever mysterious magic potion or spell that was holding the Wicked Witch of the East together was possibly something the Wicked Witch of the West used to keep herself alive as well, even though Baum never elaborated upon this aspect. But when water touched her skin, her old withered body began to break down due to exposure to the H2O moisture, as did exposure to sunlight to the one of the East, each cell soaking up the water like a sponge and pulling away from the rest of her body until there was nothing left to pull away from. It would be a HORRIBLE way to go! However horrible it was; it was a quick death nonetheless, and everyone in Oz could breathe a sigh of relief when her evil reign came to an end and she was finally gone for good. The Wizard of Oz (1939) Appearances Wizard of Oz 1910 In L. Frank Baum's 1910 independent Oz film of The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch is named "Momba". The Wizard of Oz 1939 In the MGM musical, the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed by late actress Margaret Hamilton whose counterpart in Kansas is a mean spirited woman named Almira Gulch. When she appears as the Wicked Witch in Oz named as Angela, her portrayal introduces green boogeyman skin to the character. Hamilton's characterization is the most iconic and popular version of Oz's main villain. [[The Wiz (movie)|'The Wiz']] In both the 1975 Broadway Musical and 1978 Motown movie, the Wicked Witch of the West is named Evillene . In both productions Evillene is played by Mabel King. She is an evil, fat, greedy tyrant, similar to the one in the original 1900 book. But unlike Baum's Wicked Witch, in the Wiz Evillene believes she is beautiful, even though she actually is very ugly, with terrible taste in clothes. But her Winkie slaves call her beautiful only because they know that's what she wants to hear. In the broadway version she wears elaborate dresses and lives in a dark castle with the Winkies slaving away and is always in a bad mood. She is killed when Dorothy throws a bucket of water at her, causing her to melt away. In the movie adaptation, her character is slightly more interesting. Here, she lives in and runs an underground sweatshop located in Oz's sewer system, where her Winkie slaves are forced to work non-stop with no lunch hours or breaks. And she sits on a giant, dirty toilet seat she has turned into a throne. In the movie she wakes up at noon to watch over her slaves and will kill anyone who is not working hard. She is dressed in a big red dress with many tacky or gaudy items glued or sewn into it, such as dog toys, antique jewelry and other small, random pieces. She also wears many golden crowns on her head and lots of rings and mismatch jewelry. She is killed when Dorothy turns on the sprinkler system causing water to wet the entire sweatshop factory, thus killing Evillene in the process and setting the Winkies free from slavery. In The Wiz Live! she is portrayed by R&B singer Mary J. Blige. She is just like the character from the musical in the 70s but she is attractive, slim but still greedy, a tyrant and evil. Wicked 1995 Elphaba Thropp is the green skinned protagonist in the popular book titled Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by author Gregory Maguire published in 1995. Elphaba is also the main character of the very successful Broadway Musical of the same name. Rather book or stage adaptation the story itself is a much more mature version of the first American Fairytale; The Wizard of Oz, which combines many key elements from both the iconic 1939 movie by MGM and the original book titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by children's author L. Frank Baum published in 1900. The story is not seen through the eyes of Baum's original Oz protagonist, the Kansas farm girl known as Dorothy Gale, who is neither the hero nor villain here. Dorothy is just a mere outsider, unwillingly thrown into a world she knows little to nothing about. Instead, everything that happens in Wicked's version of the magical land of Oz revolves around the social outcast and tortured soul named Elphaba, aka "Elphie". The plot follows her life journey, focusing on her thoughts, trials, tribulations, her meaningful relationships and eventual decent into Wickedness and how it changed the land of Oz forever. Despite being the protagonist to the reader of the novel or viewer of the play, Elphaba eventually becomes viewed as the antagonist who rebels against the repression in Oz. It is implied throughout the books and the musical adaptation that Glinda was her lover. Her strength to stand up for what she believes in leads to her being viewed by many people throughout Oz as "Wicked," thus, ultimately leading to her tragic demise. Despite her sad fate, and tarnished reputation due to the matter of Dorothy, Elphaba becomes known by many others as an underground legend and iconic activist for Animal rights in Oz long after her tragic death. *Author Gregory Maguire payed homage to Baum and formulated Elphaba's unique name out of L. Frank Baum's name, taking the phonetic pronunciation of his initials: hence, L.F.B became El-pha-ba. Syfy's Tinman 2009 The beautiful Witch Azkadellia takes the role of the Wicked Witch of the West 100 years after Dorothy Gale defeated the original of the Outer Zone aka Oz. [[Oz the Great and Powerful|'Oz the Great & Powerful 2013']] In this Oz prequel to the 1939 musical, Theodora is a beautiful, naive Good Witch who is "protected" by her powerful sister Evanora who both live in the magical Land of Oz. Shortly after the King of Oz's death she wanders alone throughout Oz and ultimately finds and quickly falls in love with Oscar Diggs aka Oscar Oz, the "pre-Wizard" who she believes has come to Oz to fulfill the long awaited prophecy. However, Theadora's innocence works against her as she is manipulated into becoming Wicked by evil forces in disguise, who are much more closer to home than she realizes. [[Once Upon a Time |'Once Upon a Time 2014']] Main Article: Zelena In the hit ABC TV Show Once Upon A Time, Zelena the Wicked Witch of the West is the half-sister to the Evil Queen Regina, having been born out of wedlock from an affair between her mother Cora and a gardener named Jonathan who masqueraded as a prince. After her existence ruins Cora's chances of being married to the genuine Prince Leopold, she is promptly abandoned by her mother and swept up by a cyclone moments later. This carries her to Oz and she is found by a woodsman and his wife. The woman insists on taking her in despite her husband's fear of her, having witnessed her perform magic at such a young age. Many years later, she leaves home after her father spitefully reveals the truth, seeking out the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard reveals her past and gives her the magic silver slippers, allowing her to travel to the enchanted forest and learn magic under Rumplestiltskin. After a failed attempt to kill Regina, Zelena returns to Oz and asks the Wizard to send her back in time to change her past. When he refuses, causing her to expose him as a fraud and turn him into the first Flying Monkey. She is later invited to join the witches of Oz by Glinda, only to turn green with Envy towards a newly arrived Dorothy Gale. ''The wonderful Wizard of Oz'' The wicked Witch of the west appeared in the Japanese anime series Emerald City "I have powers you can't even fathom." —West'' West is one of the Cardinal Witches of Oz, together with her sisters: Glinda and East. She is called the Mistress of the Western Fields, Vessel of Truth and Solace. After the Wizard banned magic from Oz, West found a new career - she runs a brothel in Emerald city. She also services the clients herself. When East is killed and brought to the Sacred Temple to be buried, Glinda asks West to sing their sister to rest. Glinda also suspects West has become addicted to Opium and she's correct: West's been using Poppy Tea to soothe her nerves. Trivia *In the original 1900 book by L. Frank Baum, she and the Wicked Witch of the East were not sisters or blood related. *In the book, the Wicked Witch lives in a yellow castle described as beautiful. *In the book, the Wicked Witch owned a pack of 40 killer wolves, 40 killer crows and 40 angry bees. She did not own the Winged Monkeys, but the Golden Cap that compelled them to obey its wearer three times. *In the book, it's stated that the Wicked Witch of the West has only one eye, yet it is as powerful as a telescope. *In the book, the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't have green skin, but is said to be so wicked all the blood in her body dried up long, long ago. *In the book, the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't fly on or own a Broomstick, instead she carries around a gaudy umbrella to protect herself from the rain or any water attacks. *In the book, when Dorothy Gale is kept a prisoner in the yellow castle of the Wicked Witch as a kitchen slave, the Witch forcefully hits Toto with her umbrella and sends the poor dog flying across the room. This was done to install fear within Dorothy. *In the book, the Wicked Witch is said to be scared of the dark for unknown reasons. *Margaret Hamilton, who played the green skinned Witch in the 1939 film was badly burned during a shot involving fire and smoke. On December 23, 1938, while filming the Wicked Witch's exit from Munchkinland in a blaze of fire, Hamilton suffered first-degree burns on the right side of her face and second-degree burns on her right hand; the flames rose too soon, before she had descended below the stage. Hamilton's green makeup was copper-based and potentially toxic, and had to be removed from her burned flesh with alcohol — an intensely painful process. She wasn't able to return to the movie until February 10th. *After weeks of being in the makeup department, before and after film shootings, Hamilton's own natural skin tone begin to turn into a greenish hue. *In the finished film, Hamilton's Wicked Witch has twelve minutes of screen time. Hamilton worked on the production for four months, and earned precisely $18,541.68. *Many scenes in the 1939 film involving the Wicked Witch had to be edited or taken out completely due to being too terrifying. *Margaret Hamilton appeared in an episode of Sesame Street which aired February 10, 1976, reprising her role as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz (1939). Reportedly, her performance scared so many children that their parents wrote in to CTW, saying their kids were too scared to watch the show anymore. As a result of the overwhelming reaction, this episode never re-aired, and as of 2017, no footage of it has surfaced on the Internet, and the only picture available is one with the Witch standing beside Oscar in his trash can. It is unknown whether or not any footage of it still exists. *Debra Winger performed this character in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. She also narrated the "Cyclone" scene in this production. This 1995 television special shortens the Wicked Witch's Castle scenes due to time limit. *On May 14, 1975 Margaret Hamilton made an appearance on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and explained to the viewers at home that The Wicked Witch of the West seems mean but Margaret says that she never gets what she wants and it made her feel a little bit sad that the kids would be scared of her. Other Siblings The Witch is mentioned frequently in the 2014 CGI film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. The Jester, the antagonist of the film, is her younger brother and uses her broom to create the scepter that gives him power. She is said to have cursed the Jester to never be able to remove his costume, always revealing another underneath. She is also shown when the Jester conjures up images of his past, having treated her brother like a slave rather than let him become a warlock. Oz Gallery ''The Wizard of Oz Wizardoz.bfi-00m-gqp_unknow~2.jpg|1939. Dead-witch~2~2.jpg|Melted 1939. 628x471.jpg|1939. Stills-the-wizard-of-oz-19566604-2400-1809.jpg|The Wicked Witch of the West with a Flying Monkey. (1939) IMG_20141104_080152.jpg IMG_20141104_150341.jpg The-wizard-of-oz-1939-mgm-film-with-judy-garland-as-dorothy-and-margaret-BA835R.jpg|''I'll get you my pretty...!'' WoO_-_5_preview.png|The Wicked Witch and a Winged Monkey. W.W. Denslow illustration. IMG_20141104_081737.jpg IMG_20141104_083431.jpg IMG_20141104_072918.jpg DarkMagic.png|The Wicked Witch of the West displaying her power in the 1939 film. ''Oz: The Great and Powerful'' Wicked-witch-hand-scratch~2.jpg|Oz the Great & Powerful. Wicked-witch-hand-scratch~2.jpg|Oz the Great & Powerful. IMG_20141111_033700.jpg|Theodora of Oz 2013 Others IMG_20141203_225632-1.jpg|"Melting" by Greg Hildebrandt 57e92084705e7196ca7536423d1685ac~2~2~2~2~2.jpg|Fly! Mary-j-blige-wicked-witch-the-wiz-2015-nbc.jpg|Mary J blige in The Wiz Live! 2015. 20-1~2.jpg|The Wicked Witch of the West as seen in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book. 1900. IMG_20150227_222604.jpg|The Wicked Witch of the West surrounded by her pets. IMG_20150227_222505.jpg|Little Dorothy slays the Wicked Witch. IMG_20150128_182659.jpg|Wicked Witch's poster Castle IMG_20150116_065922.jpg|The Wicked Witch and Dorothy. IMG_20150117_044048.jpg|Melting the Wicked Witch IMG_20141117_094637.jpg|Melted in a Silver Shoe. By Charles Santore IMG_20150302_233112.jpg IMG_20141203_225728.jpg|The Wizard of Oz. Illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt IMG_20141109_044321.jpg IMG_20141104_080152.jpg IMG_20141104_150341.jpg IMG_20141105_003750.jpg|Melting away like Brown Sugar. Tumblr_n55vl0am0R1se9ohoo1_1280.jpg|Illustration by Evan Dahm. IMG_20141105_010300.jpg IMG_20141104_115457.jpg IMG_20141104_090903.jpg IMG_20141104_082404.jpg Wicked Witch of the West.jpg|digital collage by Max WoO_-_5_preview.png|The Wicked Witch and a Winged Monkey. W.W. Denslow illustration. IMG_20141104_081737.jpg Salvatican_Royal_Palace_by_GleamingScythe.png IMG_20141017_205054hj.jpg IMG_20141104_070508.jpg|Give those Silver Shoes to me! By Charles Santore IMG_20141105_010345.jpg IMG_20141104_070424.jpg|Give me back my Silver Shoe! By Charles Santore Ilus_csantore_wingedmonkeys.jpg IMG_20141104_071317.jpg Wiz Mabel King Evillene.jpg|Evillene The-Wiz-Evilene 400.jpg IMG_20141223_000329.jpg IMG_20141109_044932.jpg|Zelena Snapshot 5 (8-3-2013 6-59 PM).png Fbnimage.jpg|The Wicked Witch of West in The Legend of Oz: Wicked West comic Sdfimage.jpg Sfgwsimage.jpg Wwwdfimage.jpg GyuyImage.jpg|Zelena Imagedf.jpg|Wicked Witch of the West In Emerald City (NBC) Ighymage.jpg|Wicked Witch of the West In Emerald City (NBC) Snapshot 3 (8-11-2016 5-22 PM).png External Links * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Witch_of_the_West Wicked Witch of the West - Wikipedia] * The Wicked Witch of the West Soundboard fr:Vilaine Sorcière de l'Ouest Category:Oz Book Characters Category:Wicked Characters Category:Winkie Country Category:Witches Category:Villains Category:Oz Movie Characters Category:Rulers in Oz Category:Once Upon a Time Characters Category:Females